Rosa pushed through the crowd of wealthy guests. Her chest heaved as she stopped at the edge of the spotlight. She lowered the silver tray.

Laying in the center of the polished metal was a single, antique emerald earring surrounded by crushed diamonds.

Meredith dropped Amanda's wrist. She snatched the earring from the tray and held it up next to the one she had just ripped from Amanda's hand. They were an exact match.

"Where did you find this?" Meredith demanded.

Rosa caught her breath. "The maid was cleaning Miss Billie's room. She found it wedged behind Miss Billie's vanity mirror. It was never stolen."

The words hit the room like a physical shockwave. The theft was a lie.

On the stage, Billie gasped loudly. She slapped both hands over her mouth. She dropped the microphone and ran down the stairs. She rushed over to Amanda. Her eyes were wide, and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Oh my god," Billie cried. She reached out and grabbed Amanda's cold hands. "Amanda, I am so sorry! I must have misplaced them when I was trying them on. It was an accident. Please forgive me."

The crowd immediately softened. Whispers of "poor Billie" and "an honest mistake" rippled through the room.

Amanda looked down at Billie's hands holding hers. She felt absolutely nothing.

Julio let out a loud, triumphant scoff. He tightened his grip on Seraphina.

"See?" Julio said loudly. He glared at Amanda. "It was just an honest mistake! Billie misplaced them. And yet you brought this fake witch hunt down here and nearly ruined the entire party! You are always so dramatic and mentally unstable over nothing. You owe everyone an apology for your psychotic behavior!"

Seraphina peeked out from under Julio's jacket. She looked at Amanda. A tiny, vicious smirk flashed across Seraphina's lips before she hid her face again.

Amanda stared at the smirk. She stared at Billie's fake tears. She stared at Julio's arrogant face.

They had set her up. They had planned to humiliate her, and even when the truth came out, they still demanded she bleed for them.

The numbness in Amanda's chest shattered. A violent, reckless energy surged through her veins. Her stomach pain vanished entirely, replaced by pure adrenaline.

Amanda violently ripped her hands out of Billie's grip. She pushed Billie backward. Billie stumbled in her heavy dress and let out a shocked cry.

Amanda reached into her coat pocket. She pulled out her phone.

She did not look at anyone. She walked straight toward the small soundboard set up near the edge of the stage for the string quartet. The musicians were staring at the drama, completely ignoring their equipment. Amanda reached out, grabbed the auxiliary cable plugged into the main mixer, and shoved it directly into her phone's headphone jack.

She opened her voice memos. She pressed play.

The audio blasted through the massive speakers mounted in the corners of the ballroom.

"Julio," Seraphina's whiny, high-pitched voice echoed off the crystal chandelier. "Some girls just bullied me in the hallway. They were so mean. Come find me, please."

The crowd froze.

"Okay, I am coming back in," the recording finished.

Everyone turned their heads and stared at Seraphina. The helpless victim act was instantly destroyed by the sound of her calculating voice.

Amanda did not stop. She opened her photo gallery. She selected the picture Jeanette had sent her-the photo of Julio's hand wrapped tightly around Seraphina's waist at the private club.

She tapped the share button. She did not use AirDrop. Instead, she opened a group message containing the contacts of three notorious society gossip bloggers she had spotted near the champagne pyramid earlier. She hit send. A second later, a chorus of digital pings erupted from the back of the room. One of the bloggers gasped loudly, practically shoving her phone into the face of a wealthy socialite next to her. The picture spread like a digital wildfire. Within seconds, dozens of phones vibrated at the exact same time.

Guests pulled their phones from their pockets and purses. They looked at the screens. The sharp intake of breath from a hundred people sucked the oxygen out of the room.

Julio's face turned the color of ash. He looked around at the staring crowd. He realized what had just happened.

He ripped his arm away from Seraphina. He shoved her away from him like she was on fire. Seraphina stumbled and fell to her knees. She reached out for the guests, but the socialites stepped backward, looking at her with pure disgust.

Amanda stood in the center of the chaos. The heavy weight that had been crushing her for three years was gone. She smiled. It was a massive, genuine, terrifying smile.

She reached over and grabbed the microphone Billie had dropped on the floor.

"Since you love putting on a show," Amanda said into the mic, her voice echoing over the whispers, "I decided to host the premiere of your affair for the whole city."

The ballroom exploded into shouting.

The noise in the ballroom was deafening. Reporters who had sneaked into the back of the room started snapping photos of Julio standing next to the crying Seraphina.

Harrison Rogers shoved his way through the crowd. His face was dark red, the veins in his neck bulging against his tuxedo collar.

Julio lunged forward. He reached out to grab the microphone from Amanda's hand. He wanted to cut the power.

Amanda stepped back. Her heel caught the edge of the table holding the massive champagne pyramid. A wave of dizziness slammed into her, black spots swarming her vision. She swayed and swung her arm back to catch her balance. The heavy metal microphone smashed into the bottom tier of glasses.

The glass shattered. The entire pyramid collapsed. Hundreds of crystal flutes crashed to the marble floor. Amber liquid splashed everywhere. The guests screamed and scrambled backward to avoid the flying shards.

Harrison stopped at the edge of the broken glass. He pointed a shaking finger at Amanda.

"You ungrateful bitch!" Harrison roared. "You ruined this family's reputation!"

Meredith stepped around Harrison. She did not yell. She walked straight up to Amanda, pulled her right arm back, and swung with all her body weight.

Smack.

The slap echoed over the sound of the breaking glass. The force of the blow snapped Amanda's head to the side. Five bright red finger marks instantly swelled on her pale cheek.

Amanda stumbled backward. Her teeth cut into the inside of her cheek. A thick drop of dark red blood leaked from the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin.

The ballroom went completely silent. Billie stopped fake-crying. Seraphina froze on the floor.

Amanda raised her hand and wiped the blood from her chin with the back of her thumb. She looked at the red smear on her skin. She slowly turned her head back to face her mother.

Amanda did not dig her nails into her palms. She did not hold back. She let out a low, dark laugh. The sound was hollow and completely insane. The fever was burning through her now, stripping away the last of her restraint.

Meredith's eyes widened in fury. She raised her hand to slap Amanda again.

Amanda's hand shot out. She grabbed Meredith's wrist mid-air. Her fingers locked onto the bone with a grip powered by nothing but adrenaline and spite. The effort made her whole arm tremble.

"This is the last time you ever touch me, Mrs. Rogers," Amanda said. Her voice was dead.

She shoved Meredith's arm away. Meredith stumbled backward into Harrison's chest.

Amanda turned her head. She locked her eyes on Billie, who was standing near the open French doors leading to the patio. Seraphina was crawling toward the same doors, trying to escape.

Amanda marched across the broken glass. Her black heels crunched over the crystal. Each step sent a fresh jolt of pain up her spine, the fever blurring the edges of her vision, but she did not stop.

Billie held up her hands. "Amanda, please calm down-"

Amanda lunged. She grabbed the collar of Billie's custom white gown with her left hand. She twisted the fabric tight, choking off Billie's words. The wound on her palm screamed in protest, hot and wet against the silk.

Seraphina tried to stand up and run. Amanda shot her right hand out and grabbed a massive handful of Seraphina's curled hair, ignoring the fresh sting where the earring post had pierced her skin.

Both women screamed.

Amanda did not say a word. She hauled them backward, stumbling under their combined weight, her fever-ravaged body running on nothing but rage. She pulled them through the French doors and out into the freezing winter night. The cold wind whipped her hair across her face and cut through her thin evening gown, shocking her burning skin.

"Let them go!" Julio yelled from inside. He and Donat—Amanda's older brother, who had been standing frozen near the bar since the chaos began—sprinted toward the doors.

Amanda ignored the heavy footsteps pounding behind her. Using the last reserves of her strength, she dragged the screaming women across the stone patio toward the edge of the massive, unheated outdoor swimming pool. The water was pitch black and freezing.

She reached the edge. Her knees buckled. Billie and Seraphina clawed at Amanda's hands, begging and crying.

Amanda lifted her right leg and drove her knee into Billie's stomach. At the exact same time, she ripped her right arm forward, hurling Seraphina over the water. The momentum tore her grip free, and she dropped to one knee on the freezing stone.

Two loud splashes shattered the quiet night.

Billie and Seraphina hit the freezing water. They thrashed and screamed, their heavy gowns pulling them under.

Amanda struggled back to her feet on the edge of the pool. The cold wind bit through her thin dress. She listened to the frantic footsteps of Julio and her brother rushing onto the patio.

She closed her eyes. She needed to know. She needed one final, physical proof that there was nothing left for her here.

Amanda spread her arms out to her sides. The torn skin of her palm stung in the icy air. She leaned backward and let gravity take her.

She fell backward off the edge of the concrete. The freezing, black water swallowed her whole.